Butterflies in Prison-a book review

Tortured For Christ is the story of Richard Wurmbrand's time spent in Communist prisons for proclaiming Jesus. But I do not think he would call it his story;rather it is the story of all the people who have been called criminals because they could not stop praising God. Wurmbrand spent fourteen years in prison,and he went on to start The Voice of the Martyrs.

Tortured For Christ is very short,written with a humility that far outweighs the horror and violence and hate to which its pages bear witness. And somehow,amid the blood and tears, a reason for it all is glimpsed. I do not think we can ever fully understand why such atrocities happen here on earth;but if we listen I think we can understand that one day we will understand. That is faith-the evidence of things not seen. As Wurmbrand says near the end of his book "The sufferings that God sends us only strengthen us more and more in the faith in Him."

Read this book if you want to know more about that faith and the people who lived in it when all other strengths and comforts vanished.

 

"Christians in prison danced for joy. How could they be so joyful under such tragic conditions?...It was because they had not seen only the sufferings. They had also seen the Savior. For the first time a few ugly worms-caterpillars that creep on leaves-understood that,after this miserable existence,there comes life as a beautiful,multicolored butterfly,able to flit from flower to flower. This happiness was ours too." Richard Wurmbrand,Tortured For Christ

How does it feel to be a worm? Who would choose such a title to proclaim as his own? I guess a caterpillar wouldn't want to be a caterpillar either except for its hope to become a butterfly. But a caterpillar has no knowledge of such things. Christ has given us both the hope to be a butterfly and the knowledge that we may become one. In fact,we even have the choice to become a butterfly or remain a worm forever. But who would not love to be a butterfly?

Marley and Life

In the movie Marley and Me, husband and wife John and Jenny have “the world’s worst dog”, and they do ordinary things in a beautifully unordinary way.In the end it’s not so much about what the dog Marley does,as it is about what happens with Marley in the midst.It’s Marley who makes you cry at the end,but it’s who Marley leaves behind that make the movie worthwhile.

  

Jenny(Jennifer Aniston) and John(Owen Wilson) don’t cut their marriage short,they don’t seek an artificial end to their troubles;with all their energy and dreams they winsomely meet life in its face. Sebastian avoids commitment and chases the new,John and Jenny each take a deep breath and trudge through the ordinary together. Sebastian finds himself always looking wistfully around him without a story to tell. John and Jenny discover scrapbooks of unexpected celebrations. 

As Jenny said in the movie, “Life is where we are”...not where we planned on being,not where we think things are better.

So Marley and Me is about endurance and the celebration of life. About waiting with both patience and expectation;and enjoying the wait.The movie’s adventures are not without realistic sadness;but it is sadness because something did indeed come rightfully to an end. Not twisted grief over something cut short.

It is sad.Marley dies. But it is the best kind of sadness one could hope for.

And so, perhaps,it is really the end of the beginning. 

Easter Slumdog

The people who laid the clothes and branches down for Jesus in Jerusalem wanted a savior who made no one wait.They wanted it at once,and in the way they had planned.But Jesus said "I am going to build a place for you"...a place outside of this earth. Jesus talked of a kingdom of fulfillment that would by no means come immediately. So, five days after He entered Jerusalem ,He was crucified at the hands of the people.

Slumdog Millionaire is not only about the hope for something great,it is also about patience and a desire long in its fulfilling.But the main character in Slumdog is not perfect;so the movie is also about grace. Jamal wins 20 million rupees in a quiz show.But without the horrors and sorrows of the slums,the injustice,the separation,the loneliness,and torture,he never would have known the answers. In the end,all the ineffable evils of the past fit together to make something beautiful.Something that would have never been guessed. It actually ended with dancing...but first he kissed Latika's scar.

First the hope,then the perseverance,then the healing,then the celebration.

"The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces;He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth...let us rejoice." Latika received the scar during Jamal's bitter attempt to save her;but the scar made the final restoration even more sweet. It was Jesus' resurrection that made Thomas doubt, but with the scars came his belief and adoration.

Whoever loses his life will gain it.

If there were no slums,who would need to be a millionaire?If there were no riches,everything would be slums.

Jesus will overwhelm us,but He will be there for us to run to. He will turn our lives upside-down, but He will never burden us with more than we can bear,and nothing can separate us from Him.

His yoke is easy and His burden is light,but He requires perseverance, and faith:the substance of things hoped for.

"And so it was that when he returned,having received the kingdom,he then commanded these servants,to whom he had given the money ,to be called to him,that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.Then came the first saying,'Master,your mina has earned ten minas.And he said to him,'Well done, good servant ;because you were faithful in a very little,have authority over ten cities.' "

Happy Easter.